Tag Archives: baby

The past few months have been a transition from “baby” to “toddler.” It has been bittersweet, sad, exciting, joyful, and nerve-wracking all at the same time. It’s amazing to see Hayley grow and learn new things every day, but it has gone so fast and I want to cherish every moment. Our little girl is no longer the sweet baby who just sits in one spot and smiles and coos, but she is now a weebly wobbly walker, laughing and chit-chatting as she wanders all over the house.

Hayley’s 1st Birthday was April 20, 2013 and we celebrated with a Polka Dot Party at our home with family and friends. She loved the attention, opened wonderful presents, and picked daintily at her special birthday cupcake. She is so loved and such a happy baby, I mean toddler. What an amazing year it’s been – the moment she was born, bringing that fragile little newborn home for the first time, her first smile and giggle, sleepless nights, stressful and blissful feedings, rolling over, crawling, cruising, babbling, talking, saying mama, waving hi and bye, finally sleeping through the night, and taking her first steps – I wouldn’t miss a moment of it. No matter the stress or frustration at learning this thing called parenting, one smile or laugh from her makes the world stop.

At one year old, Hayley is 28″ and 18 1/2 lbs. She had 4 teeth by her 1st birthday and had taken a couple of steps on her own. She loves to cruise the furniture and chase the dog. Her favorite food is pancakes, and she loves to eat anything you put in front of her. Bath time is a blast with rubber ducky!

We reached our goal of breastfeeding for one year! It was hard at first, but I knew we’d make it. It’s a very special time between me and Hayley and I can always count on nursing to calm her down if she’s upset. By now, she has pretty much weaned herself. We are down to one nursing a day for bedtime, and she drinks milk from a sippy cup the rest of the day. As much as I have loved breastfeeding (and the awesome baby weight loss!), I am very glad to be done with pumping!

Our baby girl is growing up. Once she started moving, she started becoming less and less our “itty bitty” and more and more our “big girl.” She can crawl all around the house now. She pulls herself up and stands by the furniture. She’s even started walking along the couch and is becoming more balanced on her own two feet. She is so interested in exploring everything, and we are sure she will be standing on her own and walking in no time.

The past few months have been a blast, including her first Thanksgiving and first Christmas. She decided to show off at Thanksgiving and crawled for the first time in front of my entire family. She was very determined to get to that Black Friday ad. 🙂 Christmas was filled with lots of presents from grandparents, too many to fit in the car. She loved the lights on the Christmas tree. We’re very grateful for everyone who thought of our baby girl during the holidays.

Hayley seems to like trying new foods. Since she got her first tooth, she’s enjoyed “chewing” some solid foods. She loves pancakes for breakfast! She eats lots of vegetables, but since she learned how to pick up her food and feed herself, she loves eating puffs and whatever she can shove in her mouth all by herself.

We had our first time apart in December when I went to New York City with my mom and sister for 5 days. Our fantastic babysitter/nanny watched her overnight while Chad was at work, and although I dreaded the thought of leaving her, she did great and only woke once each night. And I had a great time in New York!

I’m also happy to report that Hayley is sleeping through the night in her crib! I’d been co-sleeping with her since she was 4 months old, but we made the transition to the crib, and she has done great! Mom and baby are both getting lots of sleep now. And Chad is happier because he doesn’t have to deal with two grumpy girls haha.

Washing cloth diapers doesn’t have to be rocket science, but it will take some experimenting to find the right formula that works for your household.

The basics of the cloth diaper washing routine are rinse, wash, and keep rinsing until the suds are gone. You want to use as little detergent as possible with lots of water.

1. All in

Empty all the dirty/wet diapers into the washer, along with the wet bag or pail liner. I find it helpful to shake the inserts out of our pocket diapers at changes, so that it’s easier to dump everything into the wash quickly.

2. Rinse

Set your washer to rinse cycle (cold water is fine) with lots of water. I have a top-loader, so I set the size of the load to large. If you have an HE washer, I’ve heard that it’s helpful to toss in a towel with the diapers to get more water.

3. Detergent

Which detergent you use makes a huge difference in washing cloth diapers. Many detergents are not safe to use in washing cloth diapers because of added enzymes, brighteners and dyes. Check Diaper Jungle’s detergent chart to find a detergent that will work for you. You may try a few different kinds before landing on one that you love. I use Ecos Free & Clear, which is only $9 at Wal-Mart.

It is very important that you use very little detergent. If you are using a cloth-diaper specific brand of detergent, follow the directions. If you are using a store-bought brand like Ecos, the general rule is to use half. I use only 2 tbsp of Ecos per load, and that’s because we have hard water. If I had soft water, I would only use 1 tbsp. Also, I sprinkle in a little bit of baking soda to eliminate odors.

4. Wash

Use hot water on the wash cycle.

5. Rinse, rinse, rinse

Rinse as many times as needed to ensure that all the suds are gone. You should see no soap bubbles at all. I usually only need to add a second rinse cycle to do the trick.

6. Dry

Hang diapers to dry on a drying rack. If you can put them outside in the sun, it will bleach out any stains. Inserts and wet bags can be hung to dry or tossed in the dryer on low heat. Never use dryer sheets, dryer bars or any type of softener with cloth diapers.

I’d be happy to answer your questions about washing cloth diapers. Do you have a routine or tips that you’d like to share?

Continuing my posts on cloth diapers, here is my list of everything you need to start cloth diapering. Some things are essential and others are optional. Lists will differ slightly from one mom to another, but here’s mine.

Essentials

Diapers. There are several kinds – prefolds, pockets, all-in-two (AI2), and all-in-one (AIO). Read here for the differences. We use pockets, so we started with a stash of 24 diapers and 48 inserts.

Wet bags. These are PUL-lined bags that you can use to toss your wet and dirty diapers in, either on the go or at home.

Cloth diaper detergent. Your typical laundry detergent probably won’t be safe for cloth diapers because of chemicals and soap build-up. We use Ecos free & clear detergent, found at Walmart for $9. I’m still on my first bottle and I’ve been washing diapers for about 7 months. Diaper Jungle has a great chart of cloth-diaper safe detergents.

Storage boxes. You’ll need a place to organize your diapers. I reused a disposable diaper box, or you can buy baskets at Target or wherever.

Pocket Cloth Diapers

Cloth Diapers Storage

That’s the bare minimum you need to use cloth diapers, but there are several more “accessories” that will help.

Optional

Diaper pail and PUL pail liners. I got a trash can with a lid and a couple washable pail liners for our house. You could just use a large wet bag.

Drying rack. Best way to dry diapers is hanging them to dry. Plus the sun gets rid of stains!

Diaper sprayer. It’s like the sprayer connected to your kitchen sink, but it attaches to the toilet so you can rinse off poop without getting your hands dirty.

Cloth-friendly rash cream. The best is virgin coconut oil, available at Trader Joe’s (and it has a million other uses around the house).

Cloth wipes. If you want to really be eco-friendly, you can use cloth wipes instead of disposable and just toss them in the wash with the diapers.

Cloth Diaper Changing Station with Pail, Diapers and Wipes

Cloth Diaper Drying Rack

What to pack for daycare

Here’s what goes in the bag every day for the babysitter. She tosses the dirty dipes in a wet bag for me to take home at the end of the day.

You really want to know about my dirty laundry? Ok, here it is… Cloth diapers. Yes, we use cloth diapers.

About a year and a half ago, if you would have said the words “cloth diaper” to me, I would have pictured poo-stained rags fastened with safety pins – you know, the ones your mom still uses as dust rags – the same ones you’re picturing now. But times have changed and today’s cloth diapers are very different.

First, why use cloth diapers?

Huge cost savings! A stash of 24 diapers and everything we need for laundry cost us about $250 total to last through potty training. That would buy you about 10 boxes of disposable diapers – about the first 2 1/2 months of baby’s life. Using disposables to age 2 will cost you $2,000 on average. See for yourself – check out these charts at All About Cloth Diapers comparing the costs of cloth vs. disposable.

Eco-friendly. There’s no doubt that disposables cause a lot of trash. It takes 550 years for a disposable diaper to deteriorate in a landfill. Did you know you’re not even supposed to dispose of poop in the trash? The chemicals and human waste in diapers sit in our landfills and eventually pollute our water. How does a nice cold glass of dirty diaper water sound? No worries with cloth. Instead of ending up in landfills, cloth diapers can be reused for more children, resold to another family, or repurposed in some way.

Tush-friendly. Lucky for us, we decided to use cloth before Hayley was born, and she has sensitive skin. We used disposables while she was a newborn until she could fit into her cloth diapers, and she had constant diaper rash. When we switched to cloth full-time, the rash went away. You may also consider the fact that several chemicals used in disposable diapers can cause cancer and reproductive health issues later on.

So there’s the truth laid out. We’re a cloth diaper family. Who could resist this adorable fluff butt??

More coming about our adventures in fluff, including everything you need and how to wash cloth diapers.

So much has changed in Hayley’s life in the past 3 months! She’s now 6 months old and showing more personality each day. She’s rolling, rolling, rolling, babbling, yelling, and bouncing. She loves to bang her toys and make noise. Sometimes she yells at the top of her lungs just to hear her own voice. She’s on the verge of crawling, but so far she’s getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. Any day now, we will have a mobile child.

This has been such a fun age with her. She literally learns something new every week, and you can see how she is becoming more and more interested in the world around her. She loves to bounce in her jumperoo, she loves to roll around in circles and play with all her toys, and she loves to reach for things. She’s even figured out how to pick up her binky and put it in her mouth by herself. Sometimes she sucks her thumb and it’s adorable, but she doesn’t seem too attached to it yet.

Playtime is so much fun with her, but man she’s wearing me out at night. She went from sleeping through the night at 4 months to waking up 2-3 times a night at 5 months and it’s still going on. She has this psychic ability to know the minute I decide to close my eyes and go to sleep. It’s eerie, actually. But I am grateful that she goes right back to sleep after feeding.

Speaking of feeding, she had her first taste of solid food on her half birthday! She had some bananas and loved it! She’s also had avocado and rice cereal and likes those most of the time, too. She LOVES sweet potatoes! I’m really excited and proud to say that Hayley was exclusively breastfed for 6 months. No formula, no water, no juice, no solid foods until her 6-month birthday. I’ve become a huge advocate for breastfeeding in these past few months and I hope that my story is one of encouragement for many moms out there who are trying to stick with breastfeeding. It can be done and it is so worth it!

My baby girl Hayley is 3 months old. She is growing up so fast already! Each day flies by and it seems like she learns something new every day. And we learn something new about parenting each day. We learn little tricks, like trying out 4 different pacifiers to finally find one she likes. We learned that she likes her bottles at just the right warm temperature. We learned that she likes to go outside and watch the tree branches sway in the wind. It’s amazing that as she is learning, she’s also teaching us.

Every little moment of motherhood is both rewarding and challenging at the same time. There’s days when I just want to catch up on sleep, but she wants to play all day. There’s nights when she’ll only sleep when she’s snuggled up next to me. There’s times when she’s screaming her head off in the car at each stoplight. But then there’s mornings when she wakes up and smiles when she sees me and Chad’s faces. There’s times when she does something new, like giggling in the bathtub. And there’s days when she constantly reminds me of how amazing this time is in both of our lives.

Now, she’s getting close to rolling over on her own, she let out her first real giggles, she sleeps mostly through the night (only wakes up once), she smiles throughout the day, she talks more and more each day, she’s starting to reach for her toys and hold them, and she’s squirming around, moving those arms and legs all over the place!

Hayley Addison was born April 20, 2012 at 1:30 p.m. She was 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 19 1/2 in. long.

Chad and I are just so in love with this beautiful little baby girl. We’ve been truly blessed. Parenthood has been challenging at times as we try to figure out what our little one wants, but more than anything, parenthood has been the most rewarding experience. Every day, we see this little baby learn new things, see things for the first time, feel new textures, hear new sounds, and grow, grow, grow! Just like her daddy, this girl never misses a meal!

Hayley’s Birth Story

My pregnancy reached 39 weeks on Thursday, April 19 and we had one more week until the due date. Before bed, we took my 39-week bump pictures, knowing they may be the last ones. Ironically, I had jokingly told a co-worker and my doctor earlier that day that I was hoping to go into labor that night. Just four hours after taking those last bump pics, I woke up with an uncomfortable feeling, rolled over and shook it off. It happened a few more times before I realized they were probably contractions. Luckily, it was Chad’s night off work so I went downstairs and just as I got down there I felt a little trickle. I went to the bathroom and sure enough, my water had broken!

So at 3 in the morning, we packed up the car and headed for the hospital. It was a few hours before I started feeling painful contractions, but by 9 a.m. I was at 5cm and ready for the epidural. Just an hour later, I was 7cm dilated and around noon I was fully dilated. My wonderful nurse let me labor down until I was ready to push. 37 minutes of pushing and Hayley made her grand entrance into the world!

The moment she was born, they put her immediately on my chest and I’ve never felt so much love in one moment. Chad was there by my side the whole time, supporting me through labor and delivery, and saying hello to our baby girl together for the first time.

Third trimester starts this week! Eek! Pregnancy has been great so far, baby girl is growing, growing, growing, and so is my belly! Chad and I are both so blessed and excited for what’s to come. There’s a lot to process, and a lot of unknowns, but we take it day by day and learn something new about pregnancy and babies every day.

We had a great Christmas with family (despite my terrible cold that left me voiceless on Christmas morning – yuck!). Needless to say, grandmas, great-grandma, aunts and nieces are all very excited for baby girl and showered her with all kinds of pink gifts. Who can resist buying cute pink baby things?

We built the crib and changing table this weekend, so we’ve got a start on her nursery. And the boxes of other things are piling up across the house (why does such a teeny tiny thing require so much stuff?!?). One day, it will all come together. I hope.

Here’s some new belly pictures, our Christmas family pic, and the start of our little monkey’s nursery. Just 3 more months until this bun is done baking!

We went to have our ultrasound on Thursday and found out that our little one is a baby girl! She was moving so much and stretching and rolling around. We could see everything – her little fingers and toes, her tiny beating heart, and even her spine and ribcage. It’s so amazing to see how much she’s growing in there! I’m 19 weeks now and she’s about the size of a mango – 6 inches long and 1/2 pound.

Our Baby Girl's Ultrasound - 19 Weeks

I started feeling flutters the night before Thanksgiving. It felt like little sparks going off in my belly and I just knew it was our little one kicking away. I’ve felt her move more and more each day. I have to say this may be the most exciting part of pregnancy – starting to show, feeling those first movements, and finding out that it’s a girl all in the same week!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we had Chad’s mom and stepdad down here for the first Thanksgiving at our house. And we deep fried the turkey! And it didn’t catch on fire! It was the first time I had fried turkey and it was soooo good. And it only took about an hour to cook so no slaving in the kitchen all day for Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Thanksgiving with Fried Turkey!

We’re looking forward to Christmas with our families and reaching more milestones with our little baby girl. Next up: choosing a name and setting up the nursery.